Multi Lift Sales

Counter Balanced – Industrial Lift Truck & All Terrain

The most common form of forklift has a cantilevered construction that enables the load to be picked up, transported horizontally and vertically and delivered outside the wheelbase area. However if you need to operate your truck in a restricted area, such as a narrow aisle then a standard Counterbalance Forklift might not be the most appropriate type of truck. The average 4 wheel counterbalance forklift needs at least a 3.5m aisle to operate comfortably. For slightly narrower aisle widths a 3 wheel electric or Reach Truck may be more appropriate.

Side-loader

A Side-loader is generally used to pick-up and transport long loads such as sheets or planks of wood or metal pipwork. The loads are picked up at 90 degrees to the direction of travel. Multi-Way versions are available that enables all wheels to rotate by 90 degrees, so that the load can be easily transported in both directions.

Pallet Stacker

A Pallet Stacker is a pedestrian truck based upon a pallet truck but fitted with a mast in order to provide a cost-effective combination of stacker and pallet transporter.

Reach Truck

A Reach Truck has a load handler that can reach forward hydraulically for stacking and then be retracted for travelling. However unlike a Counterbalance Forklift these trucks are more suited for internal use, although they can be used outside.

Narrow Aisle truck

As the name suggests, they trucks that are specifically designed for use within the narrow aisles of high density warehousing situations. Depending upon the height of the lift, these trucks are available with either a man-up or man-down operating facility.

A common mistake is to buy a forklift with a 3 phase charger only to later discover there is not a 3 phase outlet in your building.

Electric forklifts are not very good for climbing ramps and don’t like getting rained on.

Electric forklifts generally have fewer breakdowns than internal combustion trucks and therefore cost about 25% less to operate and maintain but are more complicated and usually require a specially trained technician.

Gas – Also known as LPG (Liquid Propane Gas) is used with an internal combustion engine but has low emissions that enable it to be used both indoors and out. On average you can expect to get 8-12 hours running time from a full tank.

Diesel - Forklifts with diesel internal combustion engines are usually large trucks for outdoor use. Diesel engines, when well maintained, operate very efficiently with minimal problems.

Electric - Also known as battery trucks, are quiet have virtually no emissions and ideally suited to indoor use. On a new battery you can expect to get around 8 hours running time from a full charge. A big advantage of electric power is that your fuel is paid for upfront!

Lift Capacity

What is the heaviest load that you are likely to need to handle. A 3000kg 5m triple mast truck does not mean that you can take a 3000kg load and put it up 5m. Lift load greatly diminishes as the height of the load increases.

Lift Height

Most forklifts are simply used to unload trucks, but some businesses use pallet racking and need to be able to lift the goods onto the shelves.
A standard mast has an upright that lifts about 3m, whereas warehouse trucks can reach over 10m.

Height Restrictions

If you are operating in an environment with low doorways or need to unload containers then these restrictions need to be taken into consideration when determining the type of mast. Freelift masts allow the forks to raise up to 2m without raising the height of the mast itself.